Chapter 43: Ignorant YouTubers!!!
Back in the present...
"You wanted the origin of percenters, right? You’ve got it. Are you happy?"
Erykah’s voice trembled, raw with emotion as she stood beneath the gray sky, her eyes fixed on the weather-worn stone that marked her brother’s resting place. Her breath fogged the cold air, coming out in uneven bursts. She gripped the lapels of her coat so tightly her knuckles turned white, the fabric wrinkling beneath her trembling fingers. The wind stirred around her, brushing strands of hair across her tear-streaked face, sticking to her cheeks like the grief that clung to her soul.
Edward stood a few feet away, shoulders tense, face caught in the soft tug between sympathy and disbelief. "I... I didn’t know it involved your brother. I’m sorry for what happened to him, I truly am."
He moved closer, slow, careful, like approaching a wounded animal, uncertain if the wrong word would make her shatter. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, grounding her in silence. His touch was light—gentle, but full of intent. It was a bridge, an anchor, a shoulder to cry on. Erykah didn’t flinch. Instead, she leaned into him, allowing herself—for just a moment—to not be strong.
A long pause stretched between them like a wire. Edward let the weight of the revelation settle, then finally spoke.
"So that’s where our powers come from... our brain, huh? I would’ve never thought of that."
His gaze lifted toward the sky as if trying to see through the clouds and into the invisible network of neurons firing within their skulls—into the source of their abilities, the strange 90% that once sat dormant and had now awakened.
"Where’s Trey now? Did he ever come back?" he asked, still holding her lightly.
Erykah’s lips parted, but her voice dropped, weighed by exhaustion. "No one knows where he is. He was last seen at the burial... well, that’s what Monet told me."
She shifted, straightening up with effort, using Edward’s shoulder for balance. Her legs felt hollow, as though grief had seeped into her bones and replaced the marrow. Every step away from that grave felt like dragging chains behind her.